


No Light On The Horizon

by slightlyjillian



Series: By Your Side [4]
Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Angst, Gen, Second Chances, complicated friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-08
Updated: 2010-02-08
Packaged: 2017-10-07 03:09:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60799
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slightlyjillian/pseuds/slightlyjillian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>post-EW. <i>He didn't enjoy space, but in the confines of the mobile suit he had the freedom of nearly perfect isolation.</i> On a mission for the Preventers, Zechs and Sally confront each other. Follow up to <i>Until Death Separates You</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Light On The Horizon

**Author's Note:**

> fills one of my 100 Nichol-fics prompts. Inspired by Alithea's _By My Side_ series.

He didn't enjoy space, but in the confines of the mobile suit he had the freedom of nearly perfect isolation. He'd lost count of the hidden mines he'd watched explode. The flashes lingered behind his eyelids.

In the distance, Zechs could see the mountainous shape for the mining ship, one of the re-engineered Winner Foundation scrapping facilities. Inside those behemoth communities, the debris of war and battle were melted down into pieces usable for colony reconstruction. The workers were common laborers supervised by Preventer agents. The debris was delicate given the laser guns and rifle cannons drifting among the arms and legs of mobile suits. Only Preventer agents capable of piloting suits were used in the actual sweeps through space. Fortunately, the presence of looters and thieves had thusfar been minimal.

"I can understand skipping two meals, maybe three. But you're officially off shift, and if you don't get your bucket of bolts back here I'm putting you on twenty-four hours mandatory leave in medical." Sally's voice piped into his quiet, along with the darkly amused expression on her face.

Zechs hated how the channel was forced open. The mandatory open-link irked his need for control and the limits on who he came into contact with and when.

He'd only narrowly managed to get Nichol dismissed from this operation to space duty. He'd pulled a few strings which had resolved the matter and grounded Nichol at first. Eventually someone with authority determined that they'd needed Nichol's experience on the mobile dolls, so Zechs had presented documentation that part of Nichol's original sentencing at trial included a permanent revoke on his clearance to leave Earth. The time it would take the courts to review the order was outside of the mission window.

Learning against the wall outside the determination chambers, Zechs had said, "I told you that you'd be no good in the Preventers."

"Well, thanks for the encouragement." Nichol hadn't been as confident as before. "Une's going to do something about it." He had sat on the bench waiting the final results of his assignment. He'd tilted his head back against the wall.

"Maybe you should go back and get some sleep." Zechs had observed the weary purple rings under the other man's eyes reminiscent of the prisoner the Earth Sphere Unified Nations had left to rot in a prison cell. Nichol had persevered in getting sponsored to enlist with the Preventers. An unlikely reunion with Trowa Barton had tipped the scales. Having a war hero claim and praise the dishonored soldier had easily swayed the balance. Zechs hadn't anticipated that intervention, so he'd worked with more clandestine determination to undo Nichol's path to soldiers work.

"Why are you here?" Nichol had asked, squinting one eye as if he _suspected_ Zechs was behind every roadblock. "I haven't seen you since... well, I've seen you around. But you're always in such a hurry some place or another."

Zechs had grunted, but didn't have to answer when the door opened and Une stepped outside. The rest of the committee representatives were still inside, their chattering conversation drifted around the three, but Une's lingering quiet had told Nichol his answer.

"You'll be taking his place." Une had turned to Zechs briefly giving him a curious look before continuing on her way to her next engagement.

Nichol's effort to sound cheerful was choked out by disappointment. He had muttered, "No shortage of assignments for Milliardo Peacecraft."

Zechs hadn't said anything except for thinking that name was wrong. He didn't want to be the person with that name. But he would. If it meant keeping Nichol out of harms way.

Sally Po still waited for Zechs' reply. He gave a short nod.

"I'll meet you in the hanger."

Zechs marveled at how her sweet words could carry such a lethal threat in that promise. He flipped open the trigger on his gunner controls and took out three more space mines before charging the fuel cells to steer his suit back to the base.

***

"Your mail." Sally lifted her arm and put a data chip in Zech's face before he could climb out of his seat.

"Thanks," he replied, snatching at the device then tossing it with a clank onto the rusted metal underneath the guidance systems. Seeing her posture, arms crossed and head tilted, Zechs added, "I'll listen to that later."

He climbed down and walked toward the bunks. Sally followed, saying conversationally, "I heard from Nichol. He's still in filing. They moved him back into that room full of metal cabinets as soon as the smoke from the explosions lifted. He had been sort of happy with data entry, since it gave him a chance to have his own computer. But it didn't last long."

"I'm sure Trowa Barton could get him a better job some place else," Zechs said, then wished he hadn't said anything at all as Sally took the words as an invitation to follow him inside his quarters.

"What do you think Nicky should be doing?"

Zechs raised his eyebrow at the casual use of a nickname. "You seem to know him well. What do you want me to say?"

"Did you know that Marshall Thomas had to get an artificial arm? A deliberate attack." Sally's conversation drifted, but each comment struck Zechs as a knowledgeable accusation.

"Should I know who that is?" Zechs started to strip from his flight suit. The fabric roughly peeled away from his skin where it had been soaked by sweat then dried again. His muscles were sore and his eyes tired of watching the diminished lights of war.

"Nichol was called in after the incident. Did you know Thomas had served with Nichol on Barge? Apparently, they didn't have a kind thing to say about each other." Sally reflexively picked up Zechs gear and folded it before shoving the items into the locker space.

"Did he do it?"

"Who do what?" Sally sat in the one chair and crossed her legs. She wasn't going anywhere.

"Nichol. Go after Thomas."

"No."

"Well, then..."

"You did it." Sally rubbed her nose, but her eyes kept fixed on Zechs.

Zechs blew air through his nose, but played his role. "How could I have? I've been dealing with the residue of L3 X-18999 ever since the end of the Gundam War."

"I can't say I wouldn't have done the same thing," Sally said sadly. Then she clarified, "For Nichol. I read the eyewitness reports even if Nichol wouldn't sign them."

Zechs sat on the bed to take off his boots. He set one down and then put the second one next to it. The quiet in the room was enough to fool him into thinking he was sitting alone, not in the company of a very sharp observer. "If he's causing conflict, perhaps he shouldn't be in the Preventers."

"Where he should be is on this ship doing that job." Sally pointed in the direction of the space mines with frightening accuracy for the rotating gravity on the ship. "We could have used him. And we all know Une tried except for that paperwork that ended up in the wrong hands."

Zechs glared at Sally then. "Do you have something to say to me?"

"If I can catch on, someone else will too. Eventually. If he hasn't already." Sally didn't waver. "Why didn't you consider keeping him close to you if..."

"It's not like that." Zechs sank wearily, arms crossed over his knees. "He distracts me from my mission."

"Considering that's the first honest thing I've heard you say since I've known you," Sally stood. "I'm going to change your probation to twelve hours. In this room, sleeping, or in the mess, eating. I won't put this conversation in the paperwork if you're a good boy."

She was at the door when Zechs warned, "I'm not one of your children, those pilots..."

"No, _they_ stopped acting like kids a long time ago." Then Sally was gone.

***

Boredom overwhelmed his better senses and Zechs retrieved the data chip from his suit. He'd intended on listening to it on his next shift, but time in space ran its own course.

Zechs set the chip to play, reclined on the low bed and rested the device on his chest. Nichol's voice was as surprising in its frequency as its friendliness.

"...I don't really care about that anymore. Whatever. Barton, that's Trowa Barton, but you know who he is... well, he says that when he was piloting he had developed this sixth sense of the space around him, his important people in it and if they were doing okay or not. Right, impressively hokey, but maybe that explains why I'm feeling alright about this crap job. I'm back in filing, but someone has to do the filing. I'm the best damn filer they've ever had. Although why we're using paper files is beyond me. They're even retyping the destroyed copies from the electronic versions again. Maybe I'll have this sorted better this time. Second chance to get these documents in order. Although, I'd rather be up to my elbows in machinery... perhaps you could put a word in for me? I shouldn't have asked. I wasn't going to ask, but Trowa said he's being stonewalled again. Some snake named Lon..."

Zechs considered wiring Lon additional funds for his unquestioning perseverance.

"...my old prison, that hole, rioted and one of the guards who had, I don't know if I told you... anyway he had his face smashed in and the papers say that his wife thinks he's better looking after the reconstruction..."

Zechs had felt some remorse at how that had turned out. But not enough to be sorry. Not for what he had heard from others.

"...do you ever think about Maria and Dan? I thought about sending them a wire explaining us, saying _Miles_, ha, and I went to Earth, but then there's nothing really to explain since none of that was real, right?..."

At some point, Zechs fell asleep. He listened to the messages again. Then erased it all when he'd noticed his hand shaking.

***

The mess was mostly empty when he went to find something to eat. Several of the laborers were at one long table talking among themselves in pleasant tones with occasional bursts of laughter.

"May I sit with you?" Sally appeared behind him in the line as if she'd been waiting. She nodded at everything offered to her by the servers.

They ate quietly. Sally agreed to release him for duty again, "When you ask so nicely."

"So Sally," Zechs asked. "Why are you in space? I'm sure there's plenty of work on planet for you to stay closer to your _family_." He chose his last word carefully and with more deference than Sally had expected.

"We're both learning to adjust to each other. And she's used to her space. I'm used to traveling." Sally added playfully, "Our reunions are more precious, as you can imagine."

Zechs tilted his head briefly as if considering and then declined with a brief shake. "Family is a liability."

"Oh please," Sally laughed quietly. "As if you wouldn't rush home to save Relena like you've done every time before..."

"That wasn't my..." Zechs stopped. "I don't have anyone to fight for."

"Please." Sally pressed her fingertips into her forehead. "Think hard for ten seconds and try to say that again without lying."

"Sally," his tone dropped to a whisper.

"Do I need to make you say his name?" Sally was bent on finishing the conversation. "Just because you don't get the first person you love doesn't mean the second one isn't as worthy. Love doesn't work that way."

"He doesn't love me."

"I notice you don't deny your own feelings," Sally said.

"Do you want to take another one from me?" Zechs tore his bread. "Fine, go ahead."

"Take away? Another?" Sally couldn't close her mouth and seemed genuinely taken-back for the first time in her life. Then she set her drink down. She said thoughtfully, "You never let them go, do you? Oh, they may put miles between you, but in that terrified heart of yours the desire to keep them with you... must scare you to death. You don't think they hate you at all. You're _afraid_ to want what they're offering you. And that's definitely not hate."

Zechs took his tray to the belt and watched it disappear into the back where superheated water would wash away the remnants of untouched food.

Sally kept her word and Zechs went back into space. After twenty minutes he had the worst headache he'd ever experienced. In his distraction, he bent over to pick up the data chip from under the guidance system only to find it missing. Gone and erased.

***

Sally knocked an the metal door the sound from which could have raised the dead. Zechs turned the lights onto the lowest setting, unlocked the door and nearly fell asleep again as he went back to his bed.

"Zechs, I have a message from Une that Nichol didn't show up for work the other day. Trowa finally tracked him down to an emergency room where he was trying to get treated on the quiet." She shook his shoulder. "Are you even listening?"

"Emergency room. Nichol, so what?" Zechs strained to keep from moving too quickly, every muscle had become tense.

"Pride," Sally grumbled. "From every direction. Men! Nichol won't report what happened or tell us. Trowa says he'll just keep a better watch on the situation. And you, you're the worst. Are you asleep? He's your friend."

"Maybe he didn't want to report it because it was his fault. He only got into the Preventers on a prayer as it was." Zechs kept his eye closed. He remembered the sheepish smile that could turn into a dark-stormcloud of an indignant scowl. He almost could feel the heat of embarrassment and rage that anyone had caught him in need. But those weren't his own feelings, they had to be Nichol's.

Zechs did sit up then.

"Take a vacation," Sally said. "Go back and make sure this isn't serious."

"Why can't you and Une or Barton do something if you're this worried." Zechs wanted to run through the halls in circles, to the hanger, fly into the mine field so he could destroy something, or force the suit into a reentry of Earth's atmosphere and find the person who had failed to notice that Nichol was off limits. "Do you think it's retaliation? How long are these vendettas?"

"Don't ask me to do calculations for you," Sally said.

Perhaps he had still been sleeping, but the thought of Noin and Sally together ignited a different sort of temper, a heat in his body that moved every muscle.

"That's right," Sally continued. "Zechs, why does it all get trapped into brute emotions with you. Antagonism. Fighting. I can see why Nichol is giving you the benefit of the doubt, but how he could want more from you?"

"He's _never_ asked me for more."

He never saw her swing.

Zechs was sitting back on the bed. The clarity of pain made the image of Sally more precise. Her fingers rubbing at the knuckles of her right hand.

He was only watching her with one eye.

After a moment, the pain clarified which eye was swelling shut.

Sally waited. "Did that work? Or do I need to swing again to get that brain working?"

***

Nichol unlocked the door to the filing room. He had what he thought was the only key, but he never expected them to trust him with that much. He was only marginally surprised to find Une standing along one wall, cabinet drawer open and a file of papers open to be read.

"Ma'am?" Nichol introduced his presence as she seemed engrossed in sliding through the papers after glancing them over.

She reached into her pocket and handed him a data chip.

"What's this?" he asked.

"You've been reassigned. The formal papers will need to be completed, but this contains everything you'll need to know for your next responsibilities."

"I'm reassigned?" Nichol hesitated. "To where? Why? Please tell me I don't have to move." He'd already used up more favors than he could repay through his strange, new friendship with Trowa Barton. The younger man insisted that their entertaining chess games were repayment enough. Even when Nichol won. Sometimes.

"Special projects," Une clarified. "Which is a fancy way of saying, you do whatever we ask you to do. That's the reason for the chip. We need someone to retool current technology to improve our space suits for better endurance and practicality."

"I'm going to space," Nichol stuttered nearly dropping his keys.

"Not space. You can do this sort of thing here. Besides, we're looking for you to build unmanned robots that can get to places where people can't go," Une smiled. "We have on good authority that you're quite capable of putting yourself into places where other people can't go."

"Okay," Nichol said slowly, not catching the reference. Then with restrained enthusiasm, "Thank you."

"I'll make sure to pass that along," Une shook her head. "You've changed and then you haven't. But until now, I thought you were the best at recognizing what was under your nose."

Nichol winced. Une reached behind her to close the door and let Nichol sit for a moment when he said, "I do know. I just want to be told."

"Really?" Une seemed surprised. "In that case..."

"Not by you." Nichol's protest was quick and sharp. "I don't want to know how it is until he tells me."


End file.
